Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Guns Account For Higher Suicides Rates In Rural Areas Over Urban Ones, Study Finds
The New York Times: Guns Play Oversize Role In Rural Suicides
Suicide rates are higher in rural counties, according to a new study, and the reason is firearm use by men. The report, in the American Journal of Public Health, used data on 6,196 suicides of Maryland residents over age 15. They found that the rate of firearm suicides was 66 percent higher in the most thinly populated counties than in metropolitan areas with populations greater than a million. Non-firearm suicide rates in rural and urban counties were roughly the same. (Bakalar, 8/17)
Kaiser Health News: Gun Sellers Join Forces To Curb Suicide-By-Firearm, Rampant In Rural Areas
John Yule, 53, manages Wildlife Sport Outfitters, a hunting and fishing supplies store on the edge of Manchester, N.H., and is “deeply involved in the Second Amendment community.” But six years ago, while listening to a public radio story, Yule heard about a way he could tackle a familiar problem — the high rates of suicide in rural areas like some nearby in his state ... Now he’s part of a team of people on the front lines, trying a simple but radical approach to curb rates of suicide, the nation’s 10th-leading cause of death. (Luthra, 8/17)
The New York Times: Preventing Teen Suicide: What The Evidence Shows
There are evidence-based ways to prevent suicide. The World Health Organization has a guide for how media professionals should talk about the subject. They should avoid sensationalizing it or normalizing it. They should be careful not to repeat accounts of suicide or to provide explicit descriptions as to how suicide might be attempted or completed. They should word headlines carefully, and avoid video or photos of suicides or the victims. (Carroll, 8/17)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Suicide Prevention Atlanta: Top Suicide Prevention Resources
Recent studies from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that from 1999 to 2014, the overall U.S. suicide rate increased by 24 percent. ... And according to the CDC, suicide rates among 15- to 19-year-old girls doubled between 2007 and 2015, reaching a 40-year high. (Nibokun, 8/17)
Sacramento Bee: Suicide Spike Followed Merger Of CA Women's Prisons
California’s corrections department’s failure to prepare when it moved hundreds of high-security female inmates from a Central Valley prison to one in inland Southern California may have contributed to a recent spike in suicide attempts by women prisoners, according to a new state audit. Between 2013 and 2016, women made up 4 percent of the state’s prison population but accounted for 11 percent of the system’s suicides, according to the audit. (Ashton, 8/17)
